LowLevel04 Ransomware - How to remove

LowLevel04 ransomware was discovered in the October of the last year, that is 2015, and it continues to attack vulnerable machines. This file-encrypting ransomware has been active particularly in Greece and Bulgaria, attacking servers and, thus, making companies its main target. While the hackers have been reported to have IP addresses, which point to the Netherlands (e.g. 89.248.172.159) and Turkey.

A Brief Introduction to LowLevel04 Ransomware

LowLevel04 crypto-ransomware uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption algorithm to encrypt the files stored on the local, removable and network drives. The aimed at data file types are the following:

.3fr, .dbf, .dcr, .dwg, .doc, .der, .erf, .eps, .jpg, .mp3, .mp4, .mef, .mrw, .mdf, .bay, .bck, .bkp, .bcp, .cdr, .mid, .nef, .nrw, .dat, .dxg, .dng, .pptx, .pptm, .jpe, .kdc, .mdb, .jpeg, .indd, .docx, .docm, .pfx, .raw, .rwl, .opd, .odm, .odc, .orf, .odb, .pdd, .pdf, .pst, .ppt, .rtf, .rw2, .odt, .ods, .pem, .sql, .xls, .xml, .xlk, .wpd, .wav, .wb2, .wps, .x3f, .zip, .xlsb, .arw, .bmp, .cer, .crw, .cr2, .crt, .dxf, .r3d, .srf, .sr2, .srw, .p12, .p7b, .p7c, .ptx, .pef, .png, .psd, .php, .rar, .raf, .xlsx, .xlsm, .exe, .bad, .lpa, .sys, .dll, .msi, .ie5, .ie6, .ie7, .ie8, .ie9, .ini, .inf, .lnk, .scr, .com, .ico, .desklink, .mapimail, .search-ms, .automaticDestinations-ms, .bkup, .database, .backup, .zip

The encrypted files are pre-added the oorr. prefix. For instance, Presentation.ppt, after having been locked, will have the title of oorr.Presentation.ppt. The encrypted file is actually changed by adding a number of layers of information regarding the decryption. The five layers of the decryption information are the following: the encrypted file, the file size before its encryption, RSA-2048 encrypted encryption key, the size of the key and the identifier of LowLevel04 infection – the prefix.

The executable file of LowLevel04 ransomware, which is Date.exe, deletes itself after the encryption is over. Additionally, all files, created during the process of encryption, are also cleaned up. Moreover, the commands wevtutil.exe cl Application, wevtutil.exe cl Security and wevtutil.exe cl System are as well going to be implemented to erase the Application, Security and System event logs, which makes it impossible to investigate the attack on the compromised computer.

help recover files.txt file, containing the ransom note, is located at the infected folders. It has its Greek version also. The note in English looks like this:

4 BTC, which is equal to 2,947.28 USD, is the ransom. [email protected] and [email protected] are the contact e-mails. Even though the victims have reported to receive the decryption key, after the ransom payment has been transferred, we do not recommend doing this. You can never no, if the attackers will not steal your data twice or as many times as they will desire to.

How does LowLevel04 Ransomware Infect the System?

LowLevel04 file-encrypting malware is distributed by hacking Remote Desktop or Terminal Services in a cryptanalytic attack, namely, a brute-force attack. This kind of attack is carried out by trying a number of passwords, until the correct one is found. When the access to the above mentioned services has been gained, the payload of the crypto virus can be downloaded on the compromised system.

How to Decrypt Your Files and Remove the Infection?

No decryption tool from trusted sources is available yet. Thus, the decryption is not an option for you to be chosen. Nevertheless, copy the infected drives. On the other hand, your Shadow Volume Copies are not affected by LowLevel04 ransomware virus. Thus, you can use them. If you do not know, how to restore your files using Shadow Volume Service, you can follow this link: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-recover-files-and-folders-using-shadow-volume-copies/. If Shadow Volume Service is unavailable for you, you can always put to work the data recovery software like Recuva, PhotoRec, etc.

Before you experiment with the Volume Snapshot Service or download data restoration tools, remove LowLevel04 virus from your PC. Download Spyhunter or Hitman and run a full system scan. The manual guide for the removal of this encrypting virus is provided below.

How to recover LowLevel04 Ransomware encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before LowLevel04 Ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of LowLevel04 Ransomware

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to LowLevel04 Ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore LowLevel04 Ransomware affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually LowLevel04 Ransomware tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover LowLevel04 Ransomware encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.